How, and How Not to Ask for a Raise

Wages have been in the news lately, or for many rather conspicuously absent. While the job market heats up, what remains largely stagnant are higher wages for most Americans. This leaves questions forming on the lips of many employees, but before you turn that internal urgency into an external question for your manager, check the case you’re trying to make and ask yourself this important question: “What am I saying about myself as an employee when I ask for a raise?”

This doesn’t mean, of course, that you shouldn’t ask for a raise, it just means you need to review how your question reflects on your value in the workplace.

Firstly, accept this simple truth: Companies don’t pay wages to benefit their employees; rather, they pay wages to benefit the company. Companies hire employees with the right skills, experience, drive and attitude to further their agenda in the marketplace. Sure, some of those may be smaller and may not have as much influence as C-level executives or directors. But jobs well-done support processes for others to do jobs well-done. Jobs poorly done at any level will cause the people and teams around and above that job to fill in the gap, which means effort, and ultimately money, is being taxed away from key goals and initiatives. In short, it really is true that every single job matters. Which means every job can be monetized such that the company sees the value of its people.

So when you ask for a raise, make it about your quantifiable value to the team and the company, not just about you and your needs.  Resist the urge to mention how you are dissatisfied with your wages, or how your currently wages fail to meet your personal goals or leave your budget depleted. Because ultimately, this is not a conversation about just you. This is about you and your employer, together. We may like to think of our employers as having unlimited resources, but in this regard they’re truly very much like people – they have goals, they have limited resources to obtain those goals, and sometimes they have to take risks to make gains.

When you ask for a raise, do some research about yourself and your impact on the quality of work for your team. Use data to make your case, and yes, be prepared with presentations. You should have a long and a short version, and make decisions ahead of time what you can sacrifice in detail if you only have a moment of your manager’s time. Even if you get their brief attention, the point is to give them a reason to set up a longer conversation with you. And never, ever do your elevator pitch within earshot of others or in a meeting. Pick your moment, be discrete, be respectful, and be compelling.

Talk about your productivity, but try not to talk about what the team would look like without your contribution. Talk about your innovation, but try not to talk about the lack of innovation elsewhere on your team. Talk about your commitment, but try not to blame others for not giving their all. This conversation shouldn’t be an ultimatum, a veiled threat, or a complaint. This should be a productive conversation about how you want to continue to give as much as possible to achieve the goals of the team, and in return you want the company to reward your value to the team. The end result should be a win for all parties: your long-term commitment to the team, and the team’s commitment to the enrichment, advancement, and expansion of your career.

Many of us wait too long to have these conversations, well after resentments have festered and attitudes become transparent. Don’t do this. Pick a moment when your contributions are most visible and important to the team, when your “better angels” are on full display. Because that’s the best time to shine a light on the mutual benefit of your employment agreement: Your contributions to the team, and your employer’s value of your contributions.